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Entries in UNESCO (8)
"A Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future": A United Nations Initiative (REPORT)
Monday, September 24, 2012 at 6:51AM
(Illustration: Sarah Nguyen) (HN, 9/24/12) - On the International Day of Peace on September 21, United Nations officials, experts and a movie star gathered at UN headquarters in New York City to propose pathways to lasting peace and tolerance, particularly in the wake of violence triggered by a critical video portrayal of the Prophet Mohammed.
Two afternoon panels, called a "high-level" debate on "Sustainable Peace for a Sustainable Future," were hosted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
UNESCO Director-General and conference moderator Irina Bokova called for renewed commitment by all to respect, tolerance and mutual understanding. The UN agency has announced an International Decade of the Rapprochement of Cultures for 2013-2023.
In denouncing current incidences of bloodshed and unrest as "deplorable and unjustifiable," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told the full-capacity room that "We cannot let the voices of extremists dominate the debate and inflame tensions. We need voices of moderation and solidarity, reason and respect – especially from religious and political leaders."
"We must be relentless in standing for our values – peace, human rights and respect for all people," he said.
The role of young people was emphasized. Earlier in the day at a youth assembly, the Secretary General Ban implored youth to "de-friend" -- borrowing a term from Facebook -- intolerance, and instead to use the hashtag "Represent Yourself" to tweet a message of peace and global understanding.
(PHOTO: IAAP UN representative Judy Kuriansky with former President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernández/HUMNEWS)Former President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernández recommended that youth around the world participate in filmmaking, theatre, performing arts, sports, radio and television programs, oriented towards peace, non-violence and cultural diversity.
"How do you capture the mind of a 10-year old" about peace?" asked scholar and philanthropist Nasser David Khalili, Founder of the Khalili Collections of art and Chairman of the Maimonides Foundation which promotes peace and understanding among the three Abrahamic faiths: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. An exercise he uses to teach tolerance asks groups to examine the skins of lemons, which are then placed back into a basket and mixed up. When asked to identify their own and unable to do so, the lesson becomes obvious that lemons, like human beings, are the same.
The media came under critical eye. While the UN Secretary General cited the importance of social media to promote dialogue and better communication, Fernández challenged new media to become either a "Brightnet.com" or "Darknet.com"
He described the choice as either serving hatred and insult to human dignity and cherished religious beliefs, as reflected in the recent circulation of the video about the Prophet Mohammed, or to become "the ideal catalyst for peace, knowledge, understanding, solidarity and pluralism in a new world order characterized for being borderless, wireless and interconnected."
To accomplish this, Fernández recommended a new international legal approach to the use of cyberspace and global digital media, to "prohibit and punish blasphemy as the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence toward something considered sacred." The new laws would be binding on UN member states.
That communication is key was underscored by Arjun Apparadurai, Goddard Professor of Media, Culture and Communication at New York University. Communication is even more important, he said, than information, which is subject to mis-information. To be effective, communication must take into account the stark contrast between violence that spreads rapidly and virally, and peace that spreads slowly and gradually.
(PHOTO: Pictured from left to right former President of the Dominican Republic Leonel Fernandez; UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; UN General Assembly President Vuk Jeremic/Dr. Judy Kuriansky)Several presenters cited the Preamble to the Constitution of UNESCO, which declares that "Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed." The phrase is also engraved in 10 languages on the Tolerance Square Wall at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.
Humorously noting gender bias in this phrase, Deputy Executive Director of UN Women Lakshmi Puri made an impassioned appeal to recognize the role of women and girls as agents of sustainable peace in the context of the three pillars of the UN: social development; peace and security; and human rights.
Pointing out women's capacity for love and talent for consensus-building, her recommendations included that women and girls be involved in peace negotiations, included in political participation, and afforded economic empowerment. Condemning all violence against women and girls, she pointed out that peace is not an absence of violence but zero tolerance of violence.
"Gender justice is a means and an end to sustainable peace," Puri said.
Poverty was identified by several panelists as a major cause of violence. "Poverty and hunger make men fight," explained Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Other causes of violence he cited include dictatorships; resources, whether available or lacking, and "rivalry of great powers."
The newly elected President of the 67th session of the UN General Assembly, H.E. Vuk Jeremić of Serbia, eloquently described personal distress over the destruction by the Taliban of the Buddha statues, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and symbol of peace. Condemning such violence as "ignorance at the root of intolerance," he called for the settlement of international disputes by peaceful means and a "new type of humanism," emphasizing the vital importance of education and culture as building blocks for peace as "the fabric of daily life."
(PHOTO: IAAP UN representative Dr. Judy Kuriansky with Forest Whitaker, actor & UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador/HUMNEWS)The role of religion was examined by Wole Soyinka, Nobel Laureate for Literature in 1986 and member of the UNESCO High Panel on Peace and Dialogue among Cultures. Noting dramatically that "religion has been used as an enemy of humanity – in fact as a crime," he called for a stop to such "infantile efforts" to sabotage rational discourse.
Darkhan Myngbay, Minister of Culture and Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan, affirmed his country's support of UNESCO initiative for peace and non-violence.
Academy-award winning actor Forest Whitaker, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Peace and Reconciliation, described his moving experience as an African American first visiting Africa.
"Being in Africa gave me a deep understanding of all humanity," he said. "The connection amongst us all as crucial…We must always see the face of ourselves in others." Healing comes from feeling peace within ourselves, he said.
Whitaker, who won an Academy Award for his 2006 portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the film, The Last King of Scotland, launched a new humanitarian project in Uganda, as well as in South Sudan, through his new Peace Earth Foundation that focuses on peace-building and community empowerment in areas of conflict.
While he has appeared inn war-themed films, Oliver Stone's film Platoon and Good Morning Vietnam, the acclaimed actor emphasized his commitment to peace, evidenced in the International Institute for Peace which he co-founded. The Institute at Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, now under the auspices of UNESCO, develops programs and partnerships about issues such as poverty reduction, community-building, climate change, and the important role of women and spiritual and religious leaders in peace-building. Whitaker's commitment to combat youth violence was inspired by growing up in dangerous South Central, Los Angeles.
Solutions to violence posed by the panelists highlighted education. Other solutions, offered by Sachs, included the elimination of poverty and hunger, investing in development rather than the military, and term limits of leaders.
Reflecting on the 50th anniversary of the Cuban missile crisis, when a world war was averted, Sachs quoted U.S. President John F. Kennedy's remarks about peace, that "So let us not be blind to our differences, but let us also direct attention to our common interests and the means by which those differences can be resolved. And if we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's futures. And we are all mortal."
In the Q and A session, a 12-year boy from Lexington Massachusetts, attending the session with his mother, asked "What can I do to change the world?" Ms. Bokova's answer punctuated the day's events, as she advised, "Believe it and you can do it."
--- Dr. Judy Kuriansky is the Main United Nations NGO Representative for the International Association of Applied Psychology and a member of HUM's Board of Advisors. A licensed clinical psychologist in the Department of Clinical Psychology at Columbia University Teachers College,she is world renowned as a humanitarian who has led workshops on peace, trauma recovery, crisis counseling and on her unique East/West intervention programs around the world, from Argentina to India, Singapore, the Czech Republic, Israel, the UAE, and Iran. She has worked in disaster relief and psychological first aid at Ground Zero after 9/11, after SARS in China, bombings in Jerusalem, earthquakes in Australia and Haiti, the tsunami in Sri Lanka and the tsunami/earthquake in Japan, information about which is on www.DrJudy.com. An award-winning journalist and accomplished author, she is a tireless advocate for media which sheds light.
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tagged Ban Ki-moon, Dominican Republic, Forest Whitaker, Future, Peace, Serbia, UNESCO
Pakistan Deadliest Country for Journalists in 2010 - CPJ (Report)
Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 11:47AM
(HN, February 16, 2011) -- Amid a rash of suicide attacks, Pakistan became the world's deadliest country for the press in 2010. Journalists covering street protests are increasingly becoming targets. Credit: M Bociurkiw/HUMNEWS
According to the annual report from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Attacks on the Press 2010, at least eight journalists killed in connection with their work in Pakistan last year - constituting a significant portion of the worldwide death toll of 44.
The CPJ says Iraq, Mexico, Honduras, and Indonesia also ranked high for journalism-related fatalities. And for the first time, broadcast journalists accounted for the highest proportion of fatalities, overtaking their colleagues in print.
The worldwide toll reflected a notable drop from 2009, when a massacre in the Philippine province of Maguindanao drove the number of work-related deaths to a record 72. The CPJ is investigating 31 other deaths in 2010 to determine whether they were work-related.
Not surprisingly, Internet-based journalists constitute an increasing portion of CPJ's death toll. At least six journalists who worked primarily online were killed in 2010, a CPJ analysis found.
Murder was the leading cause of work-related deaths in 2010, as it has been in past years. But murders composed about 60 percent of deaths in 2010, lower than the rate of 72 percent seen over the past two decades, the CPJ found.
Deaths in combat-related crossfire and in dangerous assignments such as street protests constituted a larger portion of the 2010 toll than usual, says the CPJ.
(With the ongoing unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, street protests are likely to account for a higher proportion of deaths and injuries among journalists in 2011. Earlier this month, Egyptian journalist Ahmed Mahmoud, 36, of Al-Taawun newspaper died of his wounds, inflicted from gunfire while taking photographs of protests from his balcony. And only yesterday, the media community was shaken when CBS News reported that one of its star correspondents - Lara Logan of 60 Minutes - was beaten and sexually assaulted while covering protests in Cairo recently. Several other Egyptian and foreign journalists have been injured, detained and harassed in the past weeks of unrest in Egypt).
One of the most dangerous professions in the world
Suicide bombings and crossfire in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Thailand, and Somalia accounted for the unusually high proportion, the CPJ report says.
The only journalist to die in prison in 2010 was Cameroonian editor Germain Cyrille Ngota Ngota - who was jailed after he and other journalists asked a presidential aide about alleged misuse of state oil company funds. Cameroon will hold Presidential elections later this year in a race which is expected to be turbulent.
"There's a price to pay for speaking out," Al Jazeera anchor Riz Khan says in the forward to the report.
The CPJ reports that at least five journalists were reported missing during the year, three in Mexico and one apiece in Sri Lanka and Ukraine.
In the report, the CPJ also took aim at international institutions for failing to defend press freedom. It chides UNESCO for wanting to present a prize honoring one of Africa's most notorious press freedom abusers - President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. It also cited the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) for awarding Kazakhstan, one of the region's worst press freedom violators, chairmanship of the organization.
tagged CPJ, Egypt, OSCE, Pakistan, UNESCO, journalists, mexico
Despite Gains More Than 1,000 Babies Born With HIV Every Day - UNICEF (Report)
Tuesday, November 30, 2010 at 10:39AM
(HN, December 1, 2010) - More than 1,000 babies are born with HIV every day - and many will die before age two if they do not receive treatment.
However, recent gains in access to treatment have been notable and are saving lives of women and children: last year 53% of HIV-positive pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries received antiretroviral drugs for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV - up from only 15% in 2005. Over the same period the percentage of children under 15 who needed antiretrotrovirals and received them rose from just seven percent to 28%. Community child protection for children affected by the epidemic is improving - including for these AIDS orphans in Lesotho. CREDIT: Michael Bociurkiw/HUMNEWS
Still - the figures reveal that just over half of pregnant women with HIV in developing countries get the drugs necessary to prevent their babies becoming infected. And only about one in four children under 15 needing ARV treatment receive it.
The figures were included in UNICEF's Fifth Stocktaking Report on HIV and AIDS and progress for children. Released yesterday in New York, it is jointly produced by UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS).
The report says that the number of young people aged 15-24 living with HIV is declining - from 5.2 million in 2005 to about 5 million in 2009.
And while the dynamics of the epidemic varies from region to region, in most women disproportionately carry the burden of HIV and AIDS - especially in sub-Sahara Africa.
For years, being "overshadowed" by the epidemic, children are now an integrated group in the response.
"The story of how AIDS epidemic is affected children is being re-written. Children are now central to the HIV response and investments on behalf of children have had an impact," the report says.
The authors of the report predict that the elimination of mother-to-child transmission by 2015 "appears within reach."
"We have strong evidence that elimination of mother-to-child transmission is achievable," said Margaret Chan, WHO director general. "Achieving the goal will require much better prevention among women and mothers in the first place."
The report also found that:
- In many sub-Saharan African countries, children who had lost both parents to AIDS are more likely to be in school than before
- progress in decentralizing treatment access has been "unacceptably slow." The report notes that people living in rural and remote areas face many barriers to access - including costs and distance.
- Adolescents living with HIV are a "hidden epidemic." Many with HIV do not access treatment because they have never been tested.
- In Haiti, the January earthquake reduced significantly the number of people living with HIV accessing treatment. The Ministry of Health estimated fewer than 40% of people accessing treatment had been able to continue their treatment; many of the PMTCT service providers were affected.
- Globally, knowledge levels on the disease remain too low: only three countries have attained a level of knowledge 50% or more in both young men and young women (based on surveys between 2005 and 2009).
UNICEF says the big challenge will now be to reach those who fall through the cracks - mostly people who are amongst the poor of the poor and live in towns without HIV clinics.
"To achieve an Aids-free generation we need to do more to reach the hardest hit communities," said Anthony Lake, Unicef's executive director.
Jimmy Kolker, Unicef's chief of HIV/Aids, said: "Over the last five years children who were largely invisible from the Aids response are now at the centre of it."
In a separate statement before world AIDS day on December 1, UNAIDS Director Michel Sidibe said: "Nothing gives me more hope than knowing that an AIDS-free generation is possible in our lifetime.
tagged AIDS, HIV, HIV/AIDS, UN, UNAIDS, UNESCO, unicef
Former Canadian PM Martin Blasts Donor Nations for Cutting Africa Aid
Monday, September 20, 2010 at 11:08PM
(HN, September 21, 2010) --- A former Canadian Prime Minister has blasted major donor nations for not honouring pledging commitments made five years ago to boost progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
"One of the worst things you can do to a developing country is build up expectations and then not meet them." Paul Martin told the Globe and Mail newspaper. "The effect on government budgets, on morale, on people who believe they are about to receive help, and then don't, is in many ways worse than if it had never been promised."
The MDGs were forged by world leaders 10 years ago to help lift the world's poor out of misery by 2015. This week world leaders are in New York to review progress. Martin attended the G8 Summit in Gleneagles, Scotland in 2005 where leaders pledged to boost aid to meet the MDGs. At the time Canada pledged to double its annual aid contribution to Africa to $2.8 billion but the current government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper slashed the annual pledge to just $2.1 billion.
In the Globe interview, Martin doesn't conceal his bitterness. "I set out a number and said its not subject to revision. When the Canadian numbers were revised down, that was reneging on our commitment. The 'reclarifying' of numbers, which Canada, Italy and France engaged in, is exactly the kind of thing that must not happen in the future."
Many donor nations, including the United Kingdom, are blaming the ongoing world economic crisis for slashing aid budgets.
Earlier this year, the respected NGO, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), harshly criticized major donor nations for cutting back funding on HIV AIDS prevention programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa. MSF said the situation has gotten so bad that so-called stock-outs in anti-retroviral medicines are occurring in some of the countries in which it operates.
Martin applauded the aid and other investments in the developing world made by the new economic powers such as Brazil and Korea. However certain recipient countries have not done enough to reach MDG targets, for example in education, Martin said.
One of the eight MDGs is to ensure that all boys and girls get a complete primary school education. However, UNESCO counts 69 million children out of school - down from 103 million in 2000.
---- Reporting by HUMNEWS' Michael Bociurkiw in Toronto
tagged Africa, Canada, G8, MDG's, MSF, Paul Martin, UNESCO
EXCLUSIVE: Study Finds Massive Failure of HIV AIDS prevention education in Africa
(HN, September 20, 2010) - As a major UN review of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) opens today, a new study has cast doubt on the effectiveness of millions of dollars of donor money pumped into HIV AIDS prevention education in Africa.
Moreover, the study, supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), calls for "a comprehensive review and evaluation of all aspects of the delivery of HIV AIDS prevention education programmes in African schools."
In short, the landmark study of 60,000 Grade Six pupils and their teachers in over 2500 schools in 15 countries, finds that students within most of the countries have "a generally low level of knowledge about HIV AIDS." Only 20-40 percent of pupils reached the minimal knowledge level and less than 10 percent reached the desirable level. A remote classroom in southern Africa CREDIT: HUMNEWS
The results are nothing short of damning and its authors of the study by the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) don't hold back in their criticism.
"These research results should send major shockwaves through those governments, international agencies and development partners that have made substantial investments in HIV AIDS preventative education programmes for Africa."
The authors point out that Grade Six pupils in Africa tend to be at a very vulnerable age and yet "their knowledge about HIV AIDS is clearly inadequate for the task of guiding their decisions about behaviours that will protect and promote health.
"This is not an acceptable outcome - given the extreme human suffering caused by HIV infection and the massive amount of effort that has been devoted to large-scale HIV AIDS prevention education programmes."
Major donors for HIV AIDS prevention programmes in Africa include the Irish Government, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the UN and the Fast-track Initiative - which groups such donors as the World Bank, Australia, Canada, the US, UNICEF and the European Community.
Ironically, the study found that Grade Six teachers in Africa have very high knowledge levels about HIV AIDS. Said the study: "Almost all teachers in the SACMEQ countries reached the minimal knowledge level and around 80-90 percent of teachers in most SACMEQ countries reached the desirable knowledge level."
The authors called for a comprehensive review of the delivery of HIV AIDS education programmes in Africa - and further research into explanations for the yawning knowledge gap.
"For some reason the knowledge in the teachers' heads isn't being transferred to the students," said a UN official in southern Africa, who cant be identified because he doesn't have authority to speak.
In some African countries, teaching HIV and AIDS - especially with curriculum containing explicit HIV information - is a tricky proposition, because of conservative beliefs or opposition from the Catholic church. In Lesotho, for example, most schools are church-owned and some education materials need to be signed off by the bishops overseeing them.
Education experts in the region say reaching children as young as possible with credible, preventative education is critical if there is to be a hope of stemming the HIV epidemic in this generation. Children as young as 10 need to be targeted given that the age of sexual debut in many African countries is as low as 12.
In the SACMEQ study, students in Mauritius, Lesotho and Zimbabwe scored the lowest and those in Malawi, Swaziland and Tanzania scored the highest. Yet even in Tanzania, the highest scoring, only 24 percent reached the desirable level.
SACMEQ studies are customarily seen as authoritative because the international, non-profit consortium groups the Ministries of Education in 15 countries in southern and eastern Africa. SACMEQ researchers used a recognized testing tool to probe students' and teachers' knowledge. The test has "a high level or reliability...and is suitable for placing pupils and their teachers on a common scale of knowledge about HIV-AIDS."
According to UNAIDS, there are more than 20 million people living with HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa, and around 10 percent of these people are below 15 years of age.
A UNESCO official who co-authored the study did not respond to email inquiries.
--- Reporting by HUMNEWS staff
tagged Africa, Australia, Canada, HIV/AIDS, Ireland, MDG's, SACMEQ, UN, UNESCO, US, World Bank, unicef
(REPORT/INTERVIEW) "Reading is FUN-damental" - Twitter partners with Room to Read on World Literacy Day
Wednesday, September 8, 2010 at 5:48AM
PHOTO: Room to Read, India (HN, September 8, 2010) – Can you read this?
Wehn yuo cnnaot raed, noe hruendd ftory ccrhaetars maen noinhtg. Hlep ptoorme goalbl latceriy: http://t.co/W5UTbuB
Today, September 8th is the 35th anniversary of World Literacy Day. Adopted in 1965, this year's theme organized by UNESCO (the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization) celebrate's women's empowerment through literacy and pays tribute to the women and men who work behind the scenes who help others acquire literacy skills.
One in five adults worldwide - 796 million - lack minimum literacy skills (reading and writing); with two-thirds of those being women and girls accounting for more than half of the 67.4 million out-of-school children globally.
Literacy rates are comparatively, a cause for celebration and the world has made progress since 1965 with now close to 4 billion literate people in the world. However, literacy for all – children, youth and adults - is still a goal ahead to achieve.
In 2003, the United Nations proclaimed the ten years until 2012 the "United Nations Literacy Decade", and has put literacy and education front and center as `Millennium Development Goal Number 2' to be accomplished by 2015.
A basic education equips children with literacy skills for life and the ability to learn further and grow intellectually. Literate parents are more likely to send children to school and literate people are better able to access continuing, higher education; and jobs. In today's 21st century, `later literacy' also means experience and understanding with digital languages and technologies but reading and writing remain the fundamental building blocks for development.
The International Literacy Day global celebrations today focus on the transformation literacy can bring to women's lives and those in their families, communities and societies and on the people and efforts who help them get there, such as the international organization `Room to Read'.
PHOTO: Erin Ganju, Room to Read`Room to Read' was founded by former Microsoft executive John Wood, with co-Founders Erin Ganju and Dinesh Shrestha. This year the organization celebrated its 10 year anniversary with the opening of its 10,000th library in Nepal; where the effort first began. After a vacation to Nepal in 1999 allowed Wood to witness first-hand the country's lack of educational resources, he and his co-founders launched a book drive for one school, and turned that one-time act of kindness into the basis of inspiration for a global education movement.
Over the last decade, `Room to Read' has increased its work exponentially to impact over four million children in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Zambia through its worldwide network of more than 1,000 schools and 10,000 libraries filled with over 7 million children's books.
The organization works in collaboration with local communities, partner organizations and governments, and has empowered children with increased access to high-quality educational opportunities – including 10,000 girls this year who are attending school on scholarship.
Known also for its innovation in technology and marketing, `Room to Read' (@roomtoread) became Twitter's first Corporate Social Responsibility partner last year creating a joint project to create `Fledgling' wine (@fledgling) - a year-long first-of-its-kind social winemaking project in collaboration with the Napa Valley vineyard Crushpad. The Fledgling wines, a Pinor Noir and a Chardonnay, will benefit `Room to Read's' literacy programs in India and will launch to the market on September 25.
Additionally, Twitter and `Room to Read' have teamed up on this International Literacy Day in order to show the world what someone who cannot read see's, when they look at a page of words. The `Hope 140' effort will show viewers the scrambled message you see at the beginning of this article, and then unscramble the message to show the true words.
"With the International Literacy Day campaign, we are asking the average Twitter user to experience, just for a minute, the disempowerment that one in five people in this world experience due to illiteracy," said John Wood. "Room to Read' is galvanizing a global movement to solve this critical issue and through Twitter's worldwide platform, we aim to not only raise awareness but to instigate action."
On the `Hope 140' page you'll also find ways to buy `Fledgling' wine, as well as how to donate to Room to Read's publishing program which has created 433 children's books in 22 local languages and distributes them throughout its library network in Asia and Africa. In honor of International Literacy Day and throughout September, `Room to Read' will be producing the book "Unjani" or "How Are You," an original South African children's book written in Xhosa and English and a donation will be matched by a Room to Read donor.
So today, HUMNEWS, Room to Read and Twitter ask you to tweet for literacy and help others around the world to achieve the basic skill of reading - which can change people's lives, forever.
Because if you can't read this "Wehn yuo cnnaot raed, noe hruendd ftory ccrhaetars maen noinhtg. Hlep ptoorme goalbl latceriy: http://t.co/W5UTbuB" – there is still a long way to go to total world literacy.
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PHOTO: John Wood, Room to ReadINTERVIEW WITH JOHN WOOD, Founder of Room to Read and author of the highly-acclaimed book, "Leaving Microsoft to Change the World".
Q: 10 years on in Room to Read for you John. What is the most important thing you've learned about the world as you've been building Room to Read?
John: Ten years ago, when I delivered that first load of books to children in Nepal, I had no idea that we'd be at the point we are today – impacting the lives of five million children and on track to double that by 2015. The big lesson for me is to dream big and share that dream with incredibly passionate, qualified and hardworking people to make that dream a reality. That's what Room to Read is all about – we went from a handful of supporters (mainly friends and family) to a network of thousands around the globe.
Children's education is an issue that crosses borders and resonates with people in every corner of the world – and it's incredible that Room to Read is the convergence point as we lead a global movement to provide every child with the ability to attend school and learn to read.
Q: Room to Read was Twitter's first corporate social innovation sponsor. Talk about before Twitter, and after Twitter. How has this, helped Room to Read better achieve its goals of literacy?
John: Twitter has become a great vehicle to help us engage with our supporters and spread our message and mission to an even wider audience. Room to Read's Twitter account (@RoomtoRead) already has close to 450,000 followers and with the 315,000 people following me @johnwoodRtR, together we're reaching almost half a million people around the world on a daily basis – which is outstanding! Many of the our 40+ volunteer chapter network around the world also maintain their own Twitter accounts – so we're definitely getting the word out there.
Twitter's unique format enables us as an organization to provide real-time updates and information to supporters – without greatly taxing our resources. We use it to thank our supporters and partners, give shout-outs to other organizations, and just to keep the Room to Read message alive and fresh.
We were also fortunate enough to be chosen by Twitter as their first corporate social innovation partner and because of that we've had the opportunity to experiment with creative ways to use the platform. In fact, for International Literacy Day on September 8, we have worked with Twitter to develop a creative way for people to understand the concept of literacy and what it's like for the 776 million people in the world who still can't read. At the same time, we're asking the social network community to help support the publication of a new children's book for the children of South Africa.
I truly believe that simply by getting the message out across the globe, we'll rally more and more supporters in our battle against illiteracy – and Twitter is an incredibly platform that allows us to do just that.
Q: R2R has an intense focus on results, talk about how running an efficient and stable business, helps to achieve your goals for reading, literacy and education worldwide?
John: We started Room to Read with some important basic business principles – that we would be efficient, accountable and results-driven. I strongly believe it's necessary to take the best of the business world and combine it with the best of the NGO world – in fact, I tell our team that we want to run Room to Read with the compassion of Mother Teresa but the focus and tenacity of a blue-chip company.
I don't believe in the model of an NGO spending up to 40 cents of each dollar on administration and fund-raising. So, we keep our overhead low and run a tight ship. We do creative things, like getting our board members to donate frequent flier miles, and having volunteers in 40+ cities raise about a third of our annual budget. There are many small steps that together add up to create a very efficient organization. So, what you get when you make a donation to Room to Read is a very direct, very tangible result. We tell donors exactly how much it costs to build a school, publish children's book, establish a library or to support a year of a girls' education. In the long term, education in the developing world has been proven to be the best ticket out of poverty, so an investment in this area yields amazing long-term benefits.
Q: How does technology play a role in how you conduct business and measure results?
John: It's incredible how quickly technology evolves and allows us new and creative ways to communicate with our supporters. Using social media has enabled us to have instant access to millions of potential supporters across the globe – we can directly engage with them on a regular basis and develop a real connection more easily share our work across the globe and directly engage with people.
We also actively use technology to develop and track our programs as well. With Salesforce licenses generously donated by the Salesforce.com Foundation since 2007, we have built what we call our Global Solutions Database (GSD) that tracks all of our projects in nine countries as well as our operations in the global office. It's the Room to Read mega-reference – which is key, because keeping results in key to our organization. Every project established by Room to Read across our nine countries is tracked in the system – we track implementation timeline, number of students and teachers, percentage of community contribution, etc. The information collected helps guide our monitoring and evaluation team's efforts, so we know if we need to boost our work in certain areas. This information is then also used to provide more detailed information to our donors so that we can directly connect them to the project they're supporting -- and in doing so, we keep our them excited about our work.
Q: Can you talk about the importance of your local language education programs and books? Why was it important for teaching and learning?
John: When we started building libraries we soon realized that many of the children's books in our libraries weren't being used by the children – most of them were in English, which is not the primary language for most of the students. At that point, we decided to develop our Local Language Publishing program, to produce and distribute books in local languages. The books are written by local authors, many of whom attend our writers' workshops, and are illustrated by local artists. We also publish the books locally, so in addition to providing books for the children, we're helping to support the local economy.
Many of our books have won prestigious awards – but more importantly, they are incredibly popular and effective tools in teaching children to read. Not only is the language something the children can understand, but the stories and illustrations are culturally relevant and speak to the children's life experience.
Q: Helping children get the habit...how easy is that? And what have you heard years on, about how this simple act, changes their lives?
John: I believe children have an inherent desire to learn, so if you give them the tools and the right guidance, they can't wait! With our focus being now more directed on literacy and gender equality in education, we're developing new programs to teach reading more effectively so that it does become a skill and a habit for millions of children. Our teams in India, Sri Lanka and Nepal are already having great success in the pilot phases of their literacy programs, so we have high expectations to see literacy rates jump dramatically in the next several years.
How does reading change a child's life? This is probably most dramatically illustrated when you talk about educating girls. No offense to my gender – but it is amply documented that when you educate women you have spillover effects to the next generation which are substantially larger. When you educate a woman, you educate the next generation and all subsequent generations.
There is an increase in health and nutrition for the whole family, higher income levels for the woman and overall improvement in the quality of life for a community. For only $250, you support a girls' education for one year. I believe that's the best investment one can make when trying to effect global change.
Q: What's next for R2R and for you?
John: For the organization, Room to Read's long-term goal is to help over ten million children to gain the lifelong gift of education by the year 2015. We're well on our way to meet this goal – by the end of 2010, we'll have impacted the lives of over five million children. But we're also looking to increase the quality of education through improved teacher training and additional materials – we want the educational opportunity to be the best it can be. We're also looking to expand our Girls' Education program and provide even more life skill training – girls thrive when they're allowed to develop self confidence and academic skills – and we want them to go out and conquer the world!
Geographically, we're looking to add programs in Africa fairly soon and have been researching opportunities in Central America as well. The sad fact is that there is a long list of countries ripe for Room to Read, but we have to be sure we have our resources in place before we take the next leap – but we'll get there!
As for me, this is it! I want to see to it that Room to Read meets its goal of reaching 10 million children within the next five years. This is the hardest I've ever worked, but it's also the happiest I've ever been, and I can't imagine doing anything else! Every morning, I feel like the luckiest person alive because I get to make a difference in the lives of children
tagged Cambodia, India, Laos, Literacy, Nepal, Room to Read, Sri Lanka, UNESCO, Vietnam, Zambia
UNESCO Names New Heritage Sites in Marshall Islands, Tajikistan and Kiribati
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 12:55AM
The 34th session of the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO ended yesterday in Brazil. A total of 39 sites were considered for inscription on the World Heritage List.
It inscribed sites in Saudi Arabia, Australia, India, Islamic Republic of Iran and, for the first time, a site in the Marshall Islands to the UNESCO World Heritage List. A cultural site was added in Tajikistan, and a new natural site was added in Kiribati.
Bikini Atoll (Marshall Islands) © UNESCO/Eric Hanauer, Bikini Atoll
In the wake of World War II, in a move closely related to the beginnings of the Cold War, the United States of America decided to resume nuclear testing in the Pacific Ocean, on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall archipelago. After the displacement of the local inhabitants, 67 nuclear tests were carried out from 1946 to 1958, including the explosion of the first H-bomb (1952). Bikini Atoll has conserved direct tangible evidence that is highly significant in conveying the power of the nuclear tests, i.e. the sunken ships sent to the bottom of the lagoon by the tests in 1946 and the gigantic Bravo crater. Equivalent to 7,000 times the force of the Hiroshima bomb, the tests had major consequences on the geology and natural environment of Bikini Atoll and on the health of those who were exposed to radiation. Through its history, the atoll symbolises the dawn of the nuclear age, despite its paradoxical image of peace and of earthly paradise. This is the first site from the Marshall Islands to be inscribed on the World Heritage List.
Sarazm (Tajikistan) © UNESCO/Ainura Tentieva, Sarazm
Sarazm, which means "where the land begins", is an archaeological site bearing testimony to the development of human settlements in Central Asia, from the 4th millennium BCE to the end of the 3rd millennium BCE. The ruins demonstrate the early development of proto-urbanization in this region. This centre of settlement, one of the oldest in Central Asia, is situated between a mountainous region suitable for cattle rearing by nomadic pastoralists, and a large valley conducive to the development of agriculture and irrigation by the first settled populations in the region. Sarazm also demonstrates the existence of commercial and cultural exchanges and trade relations with peoples over an extensive geographical area, extending from the steppes of Central Asia and Turkmenistan, to the Iranian plateau, the Indus valley and as far as the Indian Ocean.
Phoenix Islands Protected Area (Kiribati) © UNESCO/Gregory Stone, The Phoenix islands
The Phoenix Island Protected Area (PIPA) is a 408,250 sq.km expanse of marine and terrestrial habitats in the Southern Pacific Ocean. The property encompasses the Phoenix Island Group, one of three island groups in Kiribati, and is the largest designated Marine Protected Area in the world. PIPA conserves one of the world's largest intact oceanic coral archipelago ecosystems, together with 14 known underwater sea mounts (presumed to be extinct volcanoes) and other deep-sea habitats. The area contains approximately 800 known species of fauna, including about 200 coral species, 500 fish species, 18 marine mammals and 44 bird species. The structure and functioning of PIPA's ecosystems illustrates its pristine nature and importance as a migration route and reservoir. This is the first site in Kiribati to be inscribed on the World Heritage List.
- Staff, UNESCO
tagged Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Tajikistan, UNESCO
"Broadband Liberation" (PERSPECTIVE)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010 at 6:36AM
--- by Shashi Tharoor
NEW DELHI – In July, I was among 30 men and women from around the world – government ministers, bureaucrats, technologists, and strategic thinkers – who gathered at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in Geneva to discuss how broadband can transform the world for the better. This "Broadband Commission" met under the Chairmanship of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and the Mexican communications mogul Carlos Slim.
The ITU, a United Nations body, established the Commission in partnership with UNESCO, and the joint chairmanship was no accident. The UN recognizes that if the information revolution is to advance further, it will take a public-private effort. As ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré has put it, "In the twenty-first century, affordable, ubiquitous broadband networks will be as critical to social and economic prosperity as networks like transport, water, and power."
The Swiss writer and playwright Max Frisch once dismissed technology as "the art of arranging the world so that we need not experience it." Today, however, technology is essential to effective participation in our world. And, although mankind cannot live by technology alone, the information revolution has liberated millions of people.
Information is liberating in the traditional political sense of the term: the spread of information has had a direct impact on the degree of accountability and transparency that governments must deliver if they are to survive.
It is also liberating economically. Information technologies are a cost-effective form of capital. Estonia and Costa Rica are well-known examples of how information-access strategies can help accelerate output growth and raise income levels.
Some of the least developed countries, such as Mali and Bangladesh, have shown how determined leadership and innovative approaches can, with international support, connect remote and rural areas to the Internet and mobile telephony, thereby helping to liberate subsistence farmers who were previously tied to local knowledge and local markets. Likewise, mobile networks are delivering health services to the most remote areas of India.
One successful UNESCO initiative is the creation of multipurpose community telecenters throughout the developing world, providing communication and information facilities – phone, fax, Internet, computers, audio-visual equipment – for a wide range of community uses. India's Unique Identification Number project, under the capable stewardship of information-technology pioneer Nandan Nilekani, will enable access to government, banking, and insurance services at the grass-roots level.
There is no doubt that the Internet can be a democratizing tool. In some parts of the world – and certainly in most of the West – it already is, since large amounts of information are now accessible to almost anyone. But the stark reality of today's world is that you can tell the rich from the poor by their Internet connections.
Indeed, economic development nowadays requires more than thinking only of the poverty line; one must also think of the high-speed digital line, the fiber-optic line – indeed, all the lines that exclude those who are not plugged into the possibilities of our world.
But the digital divide is no immutable gap. On the contrary, the technology gap between developed and developing countries, measured by levels of penetration by personal computers and information-technology and communications services, has narrowed markedly over the course of the past decade, with rapid growth in mobile phone and Internet use. The average level of Internet and mobile-phone penetration in the rich world in 1997 – 4.1 Internet users and 10.7 mobile phones per 100 inhabitants – was reached in developing countries only five years later.
By contrast, the average level of fixed-line telecommunication penetration in developing countries is nearly 50 years behind the levels of the West. Not surprisingly, it was in Africa – not Europe or America – where the cell phone first overtook the housebound handset. More Africans have become telecommunications users in the last four years than in the entire twentieth century.
The Indian story is even more remarkable. When I left India in 1975 for graduate studies in the United States, the country had roughly 600 million residents and just two million land-line telephones. Today, India holds the world record for the number of cell phones sold in a month –20 million – and for the most telephone connections made in a single month in any country in the history of telecommunications.
The growth in mobile-telephone technology demonstrates that the digital divide is shifting, and the focus of development efforts must change with it. India, for example, has 525 million mobile phone users and fewer than 150 million people with Internet access, so using mobile-phone technology as a tool of e-governance has become vital. This calls for creative means of effecting information transfer and making and receiving official payments by telephone.
Security is a key area of concern today in e-governance – both physical security, in an age of terrorism, and cyber security. Using technology to deliver security will become even more important in areas such as information sharing, disaster management, and data-privacy standards.
Information and communications technology is a powerful tool to address underdevelopment, isolation, poverty, and the lack of political accountability and political freedom. But people need access first and foremost. High-speed broadband Internet access can improve everything from transport management, environmental protection, and emergency services to health care, distance education, and agricultural productivity. Delivering these benefits to ever more people will require resources, international cooperation, and political will.
--- The author is a former Under Secretary General of the UN and former Minister of State for External Affairs in the Government of India. An award-winning novelist, he is currently a member of the Lok Sabha, India's parliament.
Copyright: Project Syndicate, 2010. www.project-syndicate.org
For a podcast of this commentary in English, please use this link: http://media.blubrry.com/ps/media.libsyn.com/media/ps/tharoor22.mp3
tagged Costa Rica, Estonia, Hamadoun-Toure, ITU, India, Max Frisch, Paul Kagame, Rwanda, Shashi Tharoor, Switzerland, UNESCO, United Nations


You will hopefully have found a few spare hours to get stuck into your textbooks over the busy festive period. Even if you haven't, don't worry – help is at hand! Laws Study Support sessions not only provide four hours of face-to-face tuition and staff content per course but also provide the opportunity for you to meet with fellow distance learning students.
Tutors will discuss a different topic on each of the courses offered (on the weekends listed below) and tutorials give you the chance to ask as many academic questions as you wish.
Each course costs only 50 Pounds and is held in the University of London's buildings.
The timetables for all of the above sessions can be found on the VLE, as well as information on how to book your place.
Please don't hesitate to book, particularly for the March and April sessions, as these prove very popular in preparation for the May examinations!
Please email laws.courses@london.ac.uk if you require any further information.
The weekend study support sessions have been really helpful. There is no substitute for face to face interaction with the professors.


One of the many remarkable things about Salona is just how unknown it is. Gecko tour parties are often the only people there – that's quite remarkable for a place that boasts so much! Salona abounds with Roman artifacts and provides so much proof and evidence of what everyday life (and death) in Roman cities was like. From walking around Salona you can piece together the routine of people life's and marvel at their ingenuity – you follow the stones, worn and indented by centuries of chariot and cart wheels, observe the daily rituals of worship in pagan and then early christian times, at the baths and hot houses and for sport at the amphitheatre – there you walk where gladiators once fought and died (and in the rooms they prayed in beforehand!!) and you see where the wild lions and tigers brought from Africa were caged before being released on their hapless victims.
With Gecko tours, our specialist guides make it all come alive for you and this is a must tour for those with any interest in history. Its all pretty much to yourself which makes it especially atmospheric but let's keep that our secret….
From here we travel to the village of Klis, which is home to an imposing medieval fortress, perched high on a hilltop. This fortress became castle to many Croatian kings and served as a defence against the Ottoman invasion during the early 16th century.
More latterly, it has featured in the blockbuster television series "Game of Thrones" – Game of Thrones tour.
Next, we head to Trogir, a city which has had 2300 years of cultural and architectural influence by Greeks, Romans, Venetians and Austrians. In 1997, Trogir was recognised as a UNESCO world heritage site. At the end of this tour, we will stop for an optional lunch in the ethno–eco village of Radošić, before heading back to Split.
The remarkable Roman ruins of Salona are just outside Solin, a sleepy suburb just 5km northeast of Split. Now part of an archaeological park, the Salona ruins are extensive, testifying to the importance of this colony under Roman rule. As they are relatively unvisited, wandering this empire of ruins is an evocative journey to an era of emperors, gladiators and Christian martyrs.
Located in the Jadro river delta, protected by mountains and surrounded by fertile fields, Salona was initially settled by the Illyrian Dalmati tribe. They were followed by the Greeks who had established towns nearby at Issa, now Vis island and Tragurion, now Trogir. Salona was connected to Trogir by the oldest road in Dalmatia, the Via Munita.
Walls encircled the town as early as the 2nd century BC as it was considered an important military centre. At the time, the Romans were involved in a series of campaigns to conquer Dalmatia and Salona seesawed several times between local and Roman control.
Sometime between 40BC and 33BC (the exact date is uncertain) Salona became a Roman colony named Colonia Martia Ivlia Salona. Roman traders and war veterans flocked to the town and under Emperor Augustus it became the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia.
Throughout the first century AD, Salona developed rapidly. The expanded city was fortified with strong walls and towers, especially on the more vulnerable northern side. On the south-eastern side, a Forum was erected and next to it a theatre that held 3,500 people. A century later, an amphitheatre was built that held up to 17,000 spectators. At its height, the population may have reached as many as 60,000 people, making it one of the largest towns in the Roman empire!!
In 284AD, Roman legions made Diocletian emperor. Born in or near Salona, Diocletian oversaw the expansion of the town, while building his magnificent palace in Split. By that time, Salona was a bustling and cosmopolitan city where several oriental religions were practiced in addition to worship of the Roman gods and goddesses. Statues of Venus have been found as well as evidence that the Persian god Mithra was worshipped here. Towards the end of the century, Christianity took root. Bishop Venantius came from Rome to spread the faith, followed by Syrian-born Bishop Domnius. They were not welcome. Emperor Diocletian was an autocrat and he embarked on a ruthless persecution of the Christian community, the last and bloodiest of the Roman empire.
By the middle of the 5th century the Roman empire was crumbling as Huns and Goths swept down and battled through the Roman provinces. Salona was first a part of the Eastern Roman empire but was then ceded to the Gothic king Theodoric in 493. It was returned to Rome in 535 but its days were numbered. In 614 the Slavs and Avars moved in and levelled the town to the ground. Its residents fled to the islands and to Diocletians's palace in Split.


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Camp Nou Experience: Museo F.C.Barcelona y Tour
Show your footballer spirit in the F.C. Barcelona stadium. Go across its trophies and facilities in a unique visit and without waiting
Triplet space
No other European football team has won the League, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey in one season. Enjoy the cups of the second triplet in the Club Museum.
Multimedia installations
Large interactive wall with an advanced gestural interaction system that accesses a database of images of the history of the Club.
"Split flap", an installation inspired by the train and airport signage screens of the 50s, which gives an innovative vision of the Barca idiosyncrasy.
FCB Museum
See all the Leagues and the and Champions Leagues won by FC Barcelona throughout its history. Learn the history of Barça through its trophies, tables and interactive walls.
Messi space
Area dedicated to the Argentine crack Leo Messi, where you will see his 6 Gold balls and his 6 Golden Boots in addition to enjoying all his goals through 2 interactive tables.
Trophies sections
The sections of Barça and all its trophies present at the Camp Nou Experience. Meet all the great national and international achievements of all our sections.
Mixed zone and press room
The post match is lived here. The place where all our players and coach give their statements once the matches at the Camp Nou are over.
Visiting team clothing
A special place that mythical players from other teams have visited worldwide and have had the honor of playing at the Camp Nou.
Changing room tunnel
Feel the same emotion of the players when accessing the pitch accompanied by the sound of a full full.
The pitch, the magical place that every player would like to step on. Without a doubt, you will have the most impressive views of Camp Nou from here.
You can take the best photos at the side of the benches.
Press booths
Barça matches have a voice here, the place where commentators from around the world make their chronicles and retransmissions.
Big screen
Remember Barça Champion with a great audiovisual projection of 35 meters with the most emotional moments of recent years.
Enjoy Barça with your 5 senses through touch screens with the 200 magical moments in the history of the Club.
NOTICE: See web link F.C. Barcelona
TEMPORARY SCHEDULES:
Monday to Sunday 10:00am - 3:00pm
Before making the visit, check the NOTICE section for schedules, since they are susceptible to changes not foreseen for training or various events.
*To make the visit more comfortable, the first hours of the morning (before 11 am)
Entrance to F.C. Barcelona Museum and tour.
Audio Guide.
Hotel Pick-up and Drop-off.
Food and Drink, unless specified.
Open every day of the year, except for 1 January and 25 December.
Duration of the visit: Approximately 1.5 hour
Due to the sporting and corporate activities of the Club, the Tour and the opening hours may be affected for training or an event without prior notice.
Special schedules:
La Liga and Copa del Rey matchdays: The tour is closed for the whole day. You may only visit the Museum (Trophy Room, History, Messi Area, Trophies of the various sections) and a panoramic view of the stadium until three hours before the start of the match.
Champions League matchdays: The day before and on the day of the match, the Tour is closed for the whole day. You may only visit the Museum (Trophy Room, History, Messi Area, Trophies of the various sections) and a panoramic view of the stadium until 3.00pm.
For stuctural reasons, due to the large number of stairs in the route, the Camp Nou Tour is not adapted for people with physical disabilities (in wheelchairs). You can visit the Museum (Sala Trophies, History, Messi Space and Trophies Sections) and the panoramic view of the stadium from the second tier.
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⇠Nobel to built currently M600 Targa prototype version
Bentley Mulsanne Speed Gets Sports Suspension And 537 HP⇢
What Peugeot Brings To The 2014 Paris Auto Show
By Daniel Zevedei
| Wednesday, October 01, 2014
Wednesday, October 01, 2014 The new Peugeot 308 GT and 508 are the up-market highlights that the brand is bringing to Paris. The EXALT... Wednesday, October 01, 2014 WebPage https://www.auto-types.com/images/_autonews/Peugeot-Exalt-concept_car_82.jpg Auto Types https://www.auto-types.com/img/logo1.png 242 55
The new Peugeot 308 GT and 508 are the up-market highlights that the brand is bringing to Paris. The EXALT and QUARTZ concepts offer new versions for their flagship, both very different but they perfectly combine performance with efficiency.
Overall, at the 2014 Paris Motor Show, Peugeot has a total of 40 models on a stand extending 4,000 m 2 located in Hall 1, claiming the new restyled range 8.
Peugeot's technological experience reflects their whole quintessence with the new Peugeot 208 2L Hybrid Air.
Integrating new Euro 6 engines for the gasoline version PureTech range and the 1.6 THP, as well as the diesel variant BlueHDi makes it possible to comply with the new standard a year before it becomes mandatory.
The Peugeot 208 GTi 30 Special Edition will be exposed near the 2008 DKR and denotes the know-how of Peugeot SPORT and their ability to meet the specific needs of private clients and the particularly harsh requirements imposed by sporting competitions.
The Peugeot QUARTZ concept combines an exacerbated expression of a new SUV generation with the most advanced brand versions.
The Sport range is enriched by the new Peugeot 308 GT and Peugeot 208 GTi 30 Special Edition. The racing area has not been forgotten, as the Peugeot 2008 DKR, 208 Rallye Cross, and 208 T16 testify.
The new Peugeot 508 is completely redesigned: new engines and a front side characteristic to the brand's new models. It comes with an offer of 8 powertrains including two gasoline units and six diesels. We note in particular that the engines comply with Euro 6 standards.
The new gasoline 1.6 THP S & S 165 CP engine is associated with a manual gear box with 6 steps or equipped with the new automatic gearbox with six speeds EAT6; the diesel engine 2.0L BlueHDi 150 BVM6 has CO2 emissions of 105 g / km and is the best offer of the segment at this level of power. The BlueHDi 2.0L 180 EAT6 diesel engine has CO2 emissions of 111 g / km and is one of the best compromises between power and fuel consumption in the segment.
Peugeot goes a step further and develops the HybridAir 208 2L concept which integrates the government project aimed at building a car that consumes only 2.0 l per 100 km. The project aims at implementing technologies in the automotive industry at a reasonable cost by 2020. The objective of this concept is therefore extremely ambitious: to halve the already low fuel consumption of the 208.
The Peugeot 308 GT sedan and SW configurations are distinguished by a unique style, outstanding performance, unusual sensations on board, all with low fuel and CO2 emissions. Four versions are proposed: Peugeot 308 GT 205 and GT 180 GT, sedan or wagon, equipped with 1.6L THP S & S BVM6 gasoline engines rated at 205 hp, or 2.0L diesel BlueHDi that develops 180 hp, mated to an EAT6 automatic transmission providing fuel efficiency figures of 5.6 l / 100 km and 130 g CO2 / km, and 4.0 l / 100 km plus 103 g CO2 / km respectively.


Currently, we the meeting runs from 6:30 to 7:45.
1) Moving back the starting time to 7 pm.
The meeting would run from 7-8:15 pm.
2) Moving the 2nd Thursday business meeting from before the regular meeting to after it.
It would begin @ 8:15 pm instead of 6 pm.
A group conscience will be taken at the (6 pm) 2nd Thursday business meeting on 9/13.
All are invited who would like to participate.
REMINDER: A Step Study Group is Forming!
Beginning Saturday September 8th, at the Alano Club of Portland.
New Location: The Annex Room!
We'll meet for a year on Saturdays from 10-11:30 using the Yellow Work Book, in the ANNEX Room.
Please announce this opportunity at your meetings!


Q: Why did the atheist throw her watch out the window?
A: She wanted to see if it was designed intelligently enough to evolve into a bird.
Q: Did you hear about the the evangelical atheist?
A: She went door to door with a book full of blank pages.
Q: How does an Athesist girl have her hair done?
Q: Why does an atheist wear red suspenders?
A: To keep his pants from being taken up to heaven during the rapture.
Q: What do you call an intelligent American?
Q: What does a dyslexic, agnostic, insomniac do?
A: Stays awake all night wondering if there really is a Dog.
A: He thought there might be a street on the other side, but he wouldn't believe it until he tested his hypothesis.
Q: How many atheists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: Two. One to actually change the bulb, and the other to videotape the job so fundamentalists won't claim that god did it.
Q: Why can't atheists solve exponential equations?
A: Because they don't believe in higher powers.
Q: How do you make an atheist appreciate life?
"Can you believe the way this guy tastes?"
Q: How many creationists does it take to change a light bulb?
A: None! They've invented torches!
If money is the root of all evil, then why do they ask for it in church?
So your an Athiest. Great! I guess I don't have to waste my time telling you to go to hell.
An atheist, upon viewing a few people praying together, commented to his friend, "Will they ever learn that prayers are a total waste of effort and time?"
And then, out of habit stated, "Thank God I'm an atheist!".
An atheist buys an Ancient Roman Catholic lamp at an auction, takes it home, and begins to polish it.
Suddenly, a genie appears, and says, "I'll grant you three wishes, Master."
The atheist says, "I wish I could believe in you."
The genie snaps his fingers, and suddenly the atheist believes in him.
The atheist says, "Wow. I wish all atheists would believe this."
The genie snaps his fingers again, and suddenly atheists all over the world begin to believe in genies.
"What about your third wish?" asks the genie.
"Well," says the atheist, "I wish for a billion dollars."
The genie snaps his fingers for a third time, but nothing happens.
"What's wrong?" asks the atheist.
The genie shrugs and says, "Just because you believe in me, doesn't necessarily mean that I really exist."
An atheist is walking through the countryside when he is ambushed by a huge grizzly bear.
"Oh God!" he screams "Help me!"
The bear stops in its tracks and a voice from the heavens rings out "All your life you've said you don't believe in me, slandered my name and now you want my help?"
"I realise that my request is rather bold," replies the atheist "but would it be possible for you to make this bear a Christian?"
"Of course it is!" replies God.
The bear closes its eyes and clasps its paws in prayer and says "Thank you Father for this meal I am about to receive..."
There was a Christian lady who lived next door to an atheist.
Every day, when the lady prayed, the atheist guy could hear her.
He thought to himself, "She sure is crazy, praying all the time like that. Doesn't she know there isn't a God?"
When he finally caught her, he asked what her problem was. She said, "I knew the Lord would provide me with some groceries, but I didn't know he was gonna make the devil pay for them!"
An atheist was rowing at the lake, when suddenly the Loch Ness monster attacked and grabbed him from his boat.
He panicked and shouted "God help me!", and suddenly, the monster and everything around him just stopped.
A voice from the heavens boomed "You say you dont believe in me, but now you are asking for my help?"
The atheist looked up and said: Well, ten seconds ago I didnt believe in the Loch Ness Monster either!
The man goes over and says "Oh what cute kittens!"
The boy replies "Yes they are Christian kittens".
About a week later the man sees the boy again with the same batch of kittens.
Once again he walks over and says "my, those are just adorable!"
The boy replies "Yes, they are atheist kittens"
The man asks "wait, weren't they christian before?"
The boy looks at the man and says "Yeah but they have their eyes open now"


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6 Different Types Of People You Come Across At Work From The Confinement Of Your Cubicle
By Vyoma Nupur, March 20th 2015
Flickr / Jake Sutton
Office workplaces are actually interesting places. People usually associate their workplace as a forbidding fortress, bursting at the seams with stress, long winded conference calls on speakerphones and a place that makes Count Dracula's castle seem like a dream destination. Actually though, workplaces, apart from being just the places to do your work in, are great observation posts to just view life and the unique personalities that co-exist in a mini-pressure cooker environment.
1. Over-Industrious Workhorse
He is to be found very early at work. The lights go on with his arrival and he leaves well after lights-off. By the time you roll-in, he has been glued to his workstation for three hours or so already, sweat beaded brow, loosened tie and all. Everyone comes to him with additional stuff and he is never able to say no. This type is the go-to guy or gal and their whole universe seems to be in the office. He is an extension of his desk, the perfect personification of nose-to-the-grindstone. Holidays usually bring a furrow of puzzlement to his brow.
2. Sighing Sam
Is on the opposite end of the spectrum. He is a sighing soprano — a master of the art. Forty hours of weekly practice has made him perfect at it. You can hear the soft tones emanating from him whenever he looks at his laptop screen, or talks to someone who stops by his desk, rising to a crescendo of fierce, high-pitched sighs when an email from the boss pops up in his inbox, heralding more work. From the quality of the office stationery to the quality and creakiness of the chair in his cubicle, complaints droop sighingly from his lips in a never-ending stream that would put a weeping willow to shame.
3. Reigning Queen Of The Grapevine
Is the walking-talking Wikipedia of office gossip. From Jim's super secret quarterly bonus, to a blow-by-blow account of Terry's spat with his boss, to the life history of the new girl in Accounting, she seems to know it all. Nothing is ever a surprise to her and she soaks up trivia about co-workers like a giant sponge. She is the life of office parties — the one who holds court about the latest and the spiciest of going-ons.
4. The Cubicle Chatterbox
Does justice to her name. She is always on the phone. Out of eight hours, five or so are spent on phone chatter. This could sometimes be a work related call but mostly this is catch up time for her to reacquaint herself with the developments that have taken place in the lives of her 500 friends and relatives, since she last spoke to them an hour ago.
5. The Supreme Commander
Is, as the name suggests, usually one of the Big-Fish. He strides with authority from his office to where the masses sit huddled in their cubicles, eyes glued to their screens. They spring up to attention at his approach, all antennas up. He cracks a joke and everyone laughs nervously or too loudly. He usually wears a futuristic looking wireless headset making him seem more like a commander of a Star Trek spaceship than that of a corporate dinghy. All the while mumbling confidentially into his earpiece, he beckons imperiously with one finger at the cubicle dwellers and all of them rush to his office doors, since no one is sure whom he actually wanted to see. His faithful henchman is the Infinite Schmoozer.
6. The Infinite Schmoozer
A very fluid personality. He can change color instantly, based on the wishes of the Supreme Commander. None of the ideas, opinions or viewpoints are his own but usually based upon what the Supreme Commander wants them to be. He is an integral part of the internal circle of the Supreme Commander. He is greatly feared among the cubicle dwellers who talk about him in hushed whispers among themselves, abruptly stopping when he appears in their midst. His career goal is to never fall from the Grace of the Supreme Commander.
Added to the above, the Workplace Worrier, Perpetual Pleaser and Too Nice Nancy continue playing their roles in this mix, making the workplace an interesting and sometimes amusing place to be.
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firm is actually a people business. It depends on recruiting good staff, training them in the key practices of professional accountancy, paying as well as you can (but not over the top), doing your best to hang on to high performers, and so on. Every year, the partners collectively monitor each other's profit performance and engage in the soul-searching process of deciding who, if anyone, will be offered the ultimate accolade of being invited to join them in partnership. The firm is successful and being a partner is hard work but very rewarding.
echelons of their public service. Its HR policies are well established, well resourced and well insulated from other branches of government.
1. How does this case illustrate the best-practice and best-fit perspectives of HRM?
2. What should Sue have done differently?
3. What should the partners have done differently?
4. Summarise the debate between the best-fit and best-practice schools.
5. What are criticisms of the best-practice approach to HRM?
6. What are limitations of the best-fit approach to HRM?
7. If you were an HR director charged with developing an HR strategy for your organisation, would you be considering a universalist or contingent approach to designing the HR system, and why?
8. What do you think are the key contextual variables that influence HR strategy? Which are the most important and why?


PARIS (AFP) - Rafael Nadal insisted that video-games rival and close friend David Ferrer deserves his chance at a Grand Slam title, and anybody who claims otherwise is ignorant of the sport.
Nadal will become the first man in history to win the same Grand Slam tournament eight times if he beats his Spanish compatriot in Sunday's final at Roland Garros.
With a Paris record of 58 wins from 59 matches, Nadal is the overwhelming favourite but has backed his 31-year-old rival, who is making his first Grand Slam final.
Nadal will take a 19-4 career record over Ferrer into the final with 16 of those wins coming on clay.
Ferrer's only win over Nadal on the surface was back in 2004 at Stuttgart, the pair's first meeting when the seven-time French Open champion was just 16. Nadal has also won all three of their meetings this year.
Despite his overwhelming dominance, the 27-year-old Nadal believes that Ferrer, who has the lowest profile of the world's top five men, does not get the respect he deserves.
"The person who will not respect David as one of the greatest players of the world - and not for one year, for a long time - is because that person doesn't know nothing about tennis. That's the real thing," said Nadal.
Ferrer has backed up his Paris threat by not dropping a set and spending six hours fewer than Nadal on the court.


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State budget bill for 2018-19 is just over $14 billion
By Jenna Carpenter - The Garden Island | Monday, May 1, 2017, 12:05 a.m.
HONOLULU — The House and Senate approved in conference last week a bill that contains the operating budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019.
According to HB 100, the proposed budget is $14.1 billion for FY 2018. For FY 2019, the proposed budget is $14.3 billion.
Included in the budget is the allocation $158,472 for pesticide regulation and three Department of Agriculture positions for pesticide compliance in FY 2019; $7.8 million for an enhanced 911 dispatch software upgrade; and $1.8 million for the Hawaii Promise Program to provide college tuition support; and general funds to support housing, outreach and legal services for homeless people, according to a release from the Legislature.
The committee also added $1 million to the budget for the Department of Health to fight rat lungworm disease.
HB 100 will go to a meeting with full House and Senate for a Tuesday vote. It would then go to Gov. David Ige for his signature.
HB 100 also contains the proposed Capital Improvement Project budget. For the state of Hawaii, the proposed CIP budget is $1.9 billion for FY 2018 and $926 million for FY 2019.
Specifically for the Garden Isle, Kauai representatives are seeking $167.5 in CIP funds.
There are almost 20 Kauai projects included in the proposed CIP budget for fiscal years 2018 and 2019, from making improvements to Waimea Park and renovating locker rooms at Kauai High School to road repair projects.
"I'm excited that the Kauai delegation worked hard to get many needed projects in the District 14," said Rep. Nadine Nakamura, (D-Hanalei, Princeville, Kilauea, Anahola, Kapaa and Wailua Houselots).
Specifically, Nakamura pointed to:
w $1.7 million for maintenance, dredging and improvements to Waiakea (Lihi) Canal boat ramp;
w $2.5 million for new announcer's booth, bleachers, P.A. system and ADA walkway at Bryan J. Baptiste Sports Complex;
w $13.6 million for intersection improvements at Kuhio Highway, Mailihuna Road and Kapaa Stream bridge;
w Bridge repair work for bridges: Hanalei, Waioli, Waipa, Waikoko, Wainiha Nos. 1, 2, and 3;
w Planning and design for a new school gym at Kapaa High School;
w Planning and design for the renovation or rebuilding of Samuel Mahelona Memorial Hospital.
Young, Hawaiian short-eared owl flies free
Island School moves classroom to beach


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We do not use hollow point bullets. They are against the Geneva convention.
Theres alot of trouble with that. I can't find any part of the Convention that states anything about caliber or types being used, but then again I can't even find the whole thing.
The Hague convention of 1899 prohibited the use of dum dum bullets.
Now I regularly get to use the SA80 MK2 and with the optical sight on it it will take a lot of beating. The SA 80 has a very good range, and even the shorten version is accurate up to 400 yards and is still very good at 500 yards. Yes there were problems when this rifle was first brought in to service just like M16 but these problems are now behind it. The SA80 has also now being fitted with a 40 mm grenade launcher which has a range of over 300 yards, and they reckon you can put a grenade through any window of a house that you chose to shoot at over a hundred yards. Now many people that criticise this rifle have never fired or used it. I personally find it is a well balanced weapon that is compact and easy to use and clean with good hitting power. Now I see some people are complaining that it is difficult for left handed people to use well so is nearly every other weapon. Even the old LeEnfield were not designed for left handed people but they all learnt to use them and use them well, so what has changed can't they learn any longer to weapon that is made for right handed people.
Our latest Assault rifle Type89.
Supporting machine gun M249 price19000dollars.
I think ,they are too expensive.
Looks a bit bulky...any idea how it works for range use? How about field?
where does the Mosin Nagant sit in that?


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June 28, 2007 Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Oceans and the Law of the Sea
Statement by Mr. Tomas H. Heidar
Legal Adviser, Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Iceland
Eighth Meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans
and the Law of the Sea
At the outset I would like to thank you, the co-chairpersons, for preparing and chairing this important meeting, as well as for your contribution to strengthening and improving the efficiency of the Informal Consultative Process (UNICPOLOS) in general. I would also like to express our appreciation to the Secretariat, in particular the able staff of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, headed by the new Director, Mr. Václav Mikulka, for the comprehensive annual report on oceans and the law of the sea. This report, especially its part X on marine genetic resources, has greatly facilitated our deliberations this week.
The Law of the Sea Convention, the only treaty dealing in a comprehensive manner with the law of the sea, provides the legal framework for all uses of the oceans. We welcome recent ratifications of the Convention by Belarus, Niue, Montenegro, Moldova, Morocco and Lesotho, bringing the number of States Parties up to 155, and signals of further ratifications in the near future. It is imperative that the Convention be fully implemented and that its integrity be preserved. Issues that were settled at the Third Law of the Sea Conference should not be reopened. In this respect it needs to be borne in mind that the conclusions of the Conference were regarded as a package, individual States prevailing in some areas but having to compromise on others.
Although the term ?marine genetic resources? does not appear in the Law of the Sea Convention, activities related to these resources are governed by the relevant general principles of the Convention, as well as by other relevant international instruments, including, in particular, the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Law of the Sea Convention contains in Parts V, VI and VII provisions on the conservation and management of living marine resources, which include genetic resources, in areas within and beyond national jurisdiction. In the view of Iceland, marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction, whether in the water column, on the seabed or in the subsoil, are subject to the high seas regime of the Convention. They are not covered by Part XI of the Convention, except as part of the marine environment that must be protected in connection with mining activities in the international seabed area.
Consequently, Part VII of the Convention applies to marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction, in particular the general principles contained in Section 2 on the conservation and management of the living resources of the high seas. These include article 117 on the duty of States to take necessary conservation measures for their nationals and - as rightly pointed out in the statement by Pakistan on behalf of the Group of 77 and China last Monday - article 118 on the duty of States to cooperate in the conservation and management of living resources. In addition, Part XII on the protection and preservation of the marine environment, Part XIII on marine scientific research and Part XIV on development and transfer of marine technology are all applicable.
We remain to be convinced of the need for a new international legal regime for marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction. In our view, the Law of the Sea Convention provides a sufficient legal framework in this respect and offers at the same time a great amount of flexibility. Iceland is willing to engage in a constructive debate for the purpose of finding fair and equitable practical solutions regarding the exploitation of marine genetic resources in areas beyond national jurisdiction within the existing legal framework. A prerequisite in this respect is a good and common understanding of the nature, vulnerability, value and services of marine genetic resources, and this meeting, in particular the discussion panel for the last three days, has contributed greatly in this regard.
In our view, the recommendations contained in the General Assembly fisheries resolution 61/105 concerning the impacts of fishing on vulnerable marine ecosystems are both targeted and meaningful, and we note that this now seems generally appreciated. We welcome the implementation of these recommendations at the national, regional and global level. Iceland has emphasized the role of FAO in this field and we welcome the decision at the meeting of the Committee on Fisheries (COFI) last March to develop, through expert and technical consultations, technical guidelines on the management of deep-sea fisheries in the high seas. The guidelines will include standards and criteria for identifying vulnerable marine ecosystems in areas beyond national jurisdiction and the impacts of fishing activities on such ecosystems, in order to facilitate the adoption and implementation of conservation and management measures by regional fisheries management organizations (RFMOs) and flag States pursuant to the aforementioned recommendations of the fisheries resolution 61/105. My country has pledged a financial contribution to this important work of the FAO.
The COFI meeting also took important decisions related to combating illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing (IUU fishing). Firstly, it accepted the proposal of Norway to develop, through expert and technical consultations, a new legally binding instrument on port State measures, as also recommended in the fisheries resolution 61/105. Secondly, the meeting requested the FAO to consider the possibility, subject to the availability of funds, of an expert consultation to develop criteria for assessing the performance of flag States, as well as to examine possible actions against vessels flying the flags of States not meeting such criteria. In our view, this work is particularly relevant in strengthening and developing the legal basis for meaningful and effective measures against vessels engaged in IUU fishing on the high seas, where the flag State has failed to fulfil its obligations and take action. We are, in cooperation with other interested States, considering supporting this important work of the FAO as a matter of priority.
Ministry Ministry Select a ministryPrime Minister's OfficeMinistry of Industries and InnovationMinistry of JusticeMinistry of Finance and Economic AffairsMinistry of Education, Science and CultureMinistry of Transport and Local GovernmentMinistry for the Environment and Natural ResourcesMinistry for Foreign AffairsMinistry of Welfare
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Phone numbers and maps for all the Government offices


The Wok is a pan-Asian restaurant at Brooks Landing, offering both dine-in and take-out. Their cuisine is primarily Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese. They also have bubble tea and Thai iced coffee.
The Wok opened in July 2014. Owner Wayne Luong had previously operated Wok With You.


In cash budget, first of all, we estimates our all incomes like cash from sales, cash from interest, dividends and other receipts. After this, we estimates our all expenses. If our cash receipts are less than total cash payment, we may take decision to get cash through loan.... A customer counts out cash for a transaction at the Native Roots pot shop in Boulder County. Marijuana sales in Colorado are subject to the regular state sales tax of 2.9 percent.
A good budget needs to be based largely on how you actually use your money. Once we had three months (or so) of receipts, we sat down and assembled a real budget for the first time. We added up all of the receipts in each category, then divided that number by three.
Cash payments are often paid up to 30 days after purchases are made and are calculated in the cash disbursements budget. Step 6: To calculate budgeted raw materials inventory on the balance sheet at May 31, begin with the number of feet that are budgeted to be on hand on May 31.


New York Fed President William Dudley says "Dreary Days for U.S. Economy May Be Over".
Despite some headwinds, Dudley is optimistic that America could grow closer to 2.5% to 3% in the coming year instead of the ho-hum 2% growth that has been a hangover of the Great Recession.
In fact, Dudley thinks the economy could soon be healthy enough for the central bank to lift interest rates off the ground.
He's signaling the Fed will likely be able to raise interest rates in 2015.
"While raising interest rates is often portrayed as a difficult task for central bankers, in fact, given the events since the onset of the financial crisis, it would be a development to be truly excited about," Dudley said.
"When the [Fed] begins to raise its federal funds rate target, this would indicate that the U.S. economy is finally getting healthier," he explained.
Fed Governors tend to be among the best contrary indicators you can find, so much so that I have to wonder if a bell just rang.
But I ain't buyin' it.